Fox News Channel ratings for first quarter of 2020 are the highest in network history
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The first quarter of 2020 was jam-packed with news, from the impeachment trial of President Trump to the growing coronavirus pandemic, and more Americans relied on Fox News for the latest news and information than ever before.
Fox News Channel finished the quarter with its largest audience in network history among both total day and primetime viewers. FNC was the most-watched network among all of basic cable for the 15th straight quarter, averaging 1.9 million total day viewers.
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The quarter also featured nonstop coverage of the Democratic primaries coverage, FOX’s unprecedented “iHeart Living Room Concert for America” and a record-setting virtual town hall with President Trump discussing the pandemic that attracted 4.4 million midday viewers, making it the most-watched town hall in cable news history.
Fox News also delivered its highest-rated quarter among the key demographic of adults age 25-54 since the first quarter of 2017 in total day and the highest since the fourth quarter of 2016 during primetime.
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Fox News averaged 3.4 million total primetime viewers, compared to 1.9 million for MSNBC and only 1.4 million for CNN.
FNC grew 42 percent in total day and 39 percent in primetime compared to the first quarter of last year, the most year-to-year growth any cable news network.
As a result, FNC has now had 73 consecutive quarters as the top-rated cable news network and continues to deliver a double-digit percent advantage over both MSNBC and CNN.
Fox News had 13 of the 15 most-watched shows on cable news, including the top five.
“Hannity” averaged 4.2 million viewers and finished the quarter as the most-watched cable news program, followed by “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which averaged 4 million viewers. “The Five, “The Ingraham Angle” and “Special Report with Bret Baier” rounded out the top five, with MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” finishing sixth.
The most-watched show on CNN was “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” which finished No. 22 overall behind 14 Fox News and seven MSNBC programs.
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“Outnumbered Overtime” with Harris Faulkner has been an industry leader in providing coronavirus information and averaged nearly 2 million viewers for the quarter, topping ABC’s “GMA3” in total viewers a record 25 times since the third quarter of 2019. It was the highest-rated quarter in total viewers in the history of “Outnumbered Overtime.”
“The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino” and “Your World with Neil Cavuto” also had their best quarters ever, and “Bill Hemmer Reports” wrapped up its first-quarter ever, averaging 2.2 million viewers.
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“FOX & Friends” averaged 1.8 million viewers, topping CNN’s “New Day” and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” combined.
Fox News averaged 2.1 million viewers during the month of March as the coronavirus pandemic dominated the news cycle, while MSNBC averaged 1.3 million and CNN averaged 1.2 million. It was the 219th consecutive month that Fox News finished No. 1 among total day cable news viewers.
Fox Business Network also had its highest-rated quarter in history in both total day and business day viewers.
FNC finished March as the highest-rated network in all of cable for the 45th straight month among total viewers – and the network’s digital platforms excelled, too.
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Fox News Digital’s coronavirus coverage resulted in all-time highs in unique devices and page views, according to Adobe Analytics. Fox News.com finished the month with record engagement after featuring a variety of coronavirus-related content, including daily live Q&A blogs with leading medical experts and its “FOX News Today: The Coronavirus Crisis” newsletter.
All the television data is courtesy of Nielsen Media Research.
